1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to meters of the type used to measure power usage, fluid flow, etc. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a meter having a communication interface for receiving and interfacing with a communication device.
2. Background of the Related Art
Meters are generally installed by utility companies to measure, for example, the amount of energy used by a customer in order to properly bill the customer for the amount of energy used during a specific time period. The most common method for reading the meter to obtain measurements of power usage, etc. is for an individual to visit the location of the meter, visually make a reading by viewing the meter's electronic display or other type of display, such as a series of dials, etc., and record the viewed measurement. The individual may also opt to use a wireless electronic meter reading device, such as a device is capable for example to communicate with a meter's IrDA port when the device is placed in proximity to the IrDA port and along the line-of-sight of the IrDA port. Another type of wireless electronic meter reading device includes a short-range RF receiver for communicating with a meter's short-range RF transmitter when the device is in proximity to the meter. The obtained measurements are then manually inputted or downloaded to a central computer station for billing and other purposes.
An additional method of reading meters is via a communications infrastructure having one or more communications networks, such as PSTN, cellular network, satellite network, Internet, Ethernet, Intranet, LAN, WAN, and other types of networks, capable of transmitting data according to one or more communications protocols, such as CDMA, TDMA, 3G, Internet protocol, Bluetooth, etc., to the central computer station. Accordingly, such meters are equipped with communication circuitry which includes at least a transmitter and an antenna for wirelessly or non-wirelessly transmitting data to a communications network of the communications infrastructure according to a communications protocol. A segment or portion of the communication circuitry is generally provided to the meter at the time of manufacture in the form of an embedded ASIC chip which also performs other functions of the meter.
As such in prior art meters, the circuitry responsible for providing the meter's remote communication capabilities cannot easily be separated from the circuitry which provides the meter's non-communication capabilities. Hence, if a utility company desires to change from one communication infrastructure to another, and/or switch to another communications network and/or communications protocol, the utility company is generally required to replace every meter in the field with meters having the desired communication capabilities.
For example, if a utility company has installed in a city power usage meters capable of communicating with the central computer station via a cellular network leased from a cellular service provider and operating according to the CDMA communications protocol and then the utility company desires to lease another cellular network from another cellular service provider which operates according to the 3G communications protocol, the utility company would have to replace every power usage meter in the city with power usage meters capable of communicating according to the 3G communications protocol. This is very costly and time consuming.
A need therefore exists for a meter having a communication interface for receiving and interfacing with a communication device for communicating with a central computer station. A need also exists for a method for effectively and inexpensively switching from one communications infrastructure to another, where each communications infrastructure may include different communications networks and/or communications protocols.